Spoken Word.

This week was interesting. I did alot of va-et-vien to Ottawa, Toronto, Gatineau and back and forth. Some of which could’ve been avoided had I listened to my intuition. But I didn’t. So the mistake was made... and I ran with it. I was sooo happy to see my friends. I was happy to share the space where ideas would be shared. I remember thinking that if this is a space where ideas and frustrations are being shared. This is like, and underground G-20, Where everyone is repping their story. and their struggle. It was like a summit where verbal therapy and politics intersected. Weaving the fabric forming the tapestry of their life's strangest fruit.
And poetry lovers ate it, digested it, and snapped, booed and awwww-ed after each bite. (sidebar: I often question the purpose of slams and spoken word, as much as I love it, but the subject of the politics of slamming is one for another post)



Once again, I found myself being in the background observing everything.
I appreciated their humility, after they left the mic they blessed. I looked at them in awe, they have no idea how much they stirred my mind. I will admit that some of the pieces I heard were delivered at a speed that was beyond me, so at some point I didn’t know how to react, and felt somehow obliged to snap or “huuummm” with everyone else. Lol... I remember thinking to myself ... “pfft... chhyyeaah, I totally got that wordplay” *shifting-eyes*... .... (NOT)...I appreciate and love spoken word, but sometimes the delivery was either worded with too much intensity, or the content too intricate for me to decipher, so I would be lost. Even though the judging was kinda off a few times, other times, I kinda sympathized with some of the judges. Had I been in their shoes, and been lost but still appreciated it, I would give them off-scores. ... I guess that's the nature of Slamming I guess.



I found myself in the spaces of different teams. Some of which I knew about, others I didn’t. Alot of the times, I felt extremely uncomfortable, because I am not a poet... but somehow I also felt welcomed.

I think one of the coolest parts of sharing the space of these people was the variety of approaches, they all took at it. Some took it more seriously than others. Some seemed to have their game-faces on lock, and it wouldn’t not be removed the WHOLE TIME, others still had their game faces when it game to show-time, but were still very laidback about it. Others developed unknown allergies, prior to stepping on stage.Some of them smoke a joint before/after the show, and just rolled with it. ...I watched. ...lol ..it was interesting.



I appreciated Montreal's Powerful french pieces. I found it refreshing, it was the 1st time I ever heard spoken word being done in French. I think I'm going to start writing using more french. I appreciated Edmonton's humble, underdog hustle. They came haaarrrdd. I appreciated the camaraderie among all the teams. It was all LOVE.

After the show, I somehow walked into this spontaneous thing, where one of the poets was just playing around with a guitar, and another poet decided to jump in and speak her peace. Her voice was so smooth. Her words were profound and real. I could've slept right then and there, it was like a lullaby. lol
...it was cool to be part of it somehow... and say nothing.



I fell in love at a poetry slam... ;)